Christian Armed Violence under the Early Abbasids: Syriac Perspectives
In: ArabicaSearch for other papers by Philip Wood in
Current site
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Abstract
This article argues that Syriac sources were mostly written from the perspective of the higher clergy who often owed their appointment to senior Muslim governors or caliphs. Their accounts were therefore framed to discourage and downplay violence by Christians. But occasionally we find signs of Christian populations living in difficult terrain such as highlands or marshland who did deploy armed rebellion as a negotiating tool against the Abbasid state. In some cases, the response of the caliph and his governors was not to crush these rebels, but to co-opt them as poachers turned gamekeepers.
Résumé
Cet article défend la thèse selon laquelle les sources syriaques ont été rédigées principalement du point de vue du haut clergé, qui devait souvent sa nomination à des gouverneurs ou califes musulmans. Leurs récits ont donc été conçus de manière à décourager et à minimiser les violences commises par les Chrétiens. Cependant, nous trouvons parfois, chez des populations chrétiennes vivant sur des terrains difficiles, tels que les hauts plateaux ou les marais, des traces de recours à la rébellion armée comme outil de négociation contre l’État abbasside. Dans certains cas, la réponse du calife et de ses gouverneurs n’a pas été d’écraser ces rebelles, mais de les coopter en tant que braconniers devenus gardes-chasse.
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Christian Armed Violence under the Early Abbasids: Syriac Perspectives
In: ArabicaSearch for other papers by Philip Wood in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
This article argues that Syriac sources were mostly written from the perspective of the higher clergy who often owed their appointment to senior Muslim governors or caliphs. Their accounts were therefore framed to discourage and downplay violence by Christians. But occasionally we find signs of Christian populations living in difficult terrain such as highlands or marshland who did deploy armed rebellion as a negotiating tool against the Abbasid state. In some cases, the response of the caliph and his governors was not to crush these rebels, but to co-opt them as poachers turned gamekeepers.
Résumé
Cet article défend la thèse selon laquelle les sources syriaques ont été rédigées principalement du point de vue du haut clergé, qui devait souvent sa nomination à des gouverneurs ou califes musulmans. Leurs récits ont donc été conçus de manière à décourager et à minimiser les violences commises par les Chrétiens. Cependant, nous trouvons parfois, chez des populations chrétiennes vivant sur des terrains difficiles, tels que les hauts plateaux ou les marais, des traces de recours à la rébellion armée comme outil de négociation contre l’État abbasside. Dans certains cas, la réponse du calife et de ses gouverneurs n’a pas été d’écraser ces rebelles, mais de les coopter en tant que braconniers devenus gardes-chasse.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 274 | 274 | 19 |
| Full Text Views | 17 | 17 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 43 | 43 | 6 |
